Infection control is an ever-increasing concern in hospital environments. Harmful infectious diseases can be spread by contact with a patient's contaminated body fluids. Healthcare providers are constantly on a quest to minimize the risk of exposure to harmful organisms. Bladder bags present a unique problem in that unlike IV bags, which hang from a hook above a patient's heart on a IV pole, bladder bags must utilize the effects of gravity and hang below the patient to function correctly. Because of this necessity, the bladder bag cannot be placed on the higher hooks of the IV pole and are generally hung over the side of the patient's bed. These bags are not sterile and function to hold the waste products from the patient. Accidental leakage from these bags can unknowingly contaminate the hospital furniture and potentially expose health workers and family member to infectious diseases.
A review of the prior art reveals several different types of fasteners for an IV pole. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,131 B1 issued to Bentley and Rosenau discloses a bracket that attaches to an elongated prop such as an electrical conduit, pipe, railing, IV stand, wheel chair frame, stake, hospital bed guards, or post is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. US20110084181 A1 discloses a Pole Universal Drainage Bag Holder. It works as a collaboration of the following parts: The Clamp Front Opening, the Middle Holding Section and the Clamp Handles. The clamp front opening is used to hold a catheter or I.V. bag or a drainage bag any general size.
U.S. Pat. No. US20100243834 A1 discloses an adjustable clamp that can attach to an IV pole.
U.S. Pat. No. US20080011907 A1 discloses an intravenous line organizer clamped to an IV pole.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,731,138 B2 discloses a mounting apparatus with a flexible shaft with a first end for releasable attachment to the support member and a second end for releasable attachment to the device. A generally C-shaped clamping member at the first end releasably attaches the apparatus to the support member.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,859 B2 discloses a band buckled around a pole. A hanger arm that has a top end attached to the band at an attachment point, and has a bottom end with a load hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,245,857 B2 discloses A storage device includes a locking slot formed in an upper portion adapted to receive at least a portion of the instrument to retain the instrument within the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,444 discloses a device pertaining primarily to supplementary fastening devices in the form of a rigid or semi rigid clip having a loop shaped portion for fastening the hook of a garment hanger or other hook including device to a clothesline or other generally linear member to which the hook is hooked.
U.S. Pat. No. 20030167605 A1 discloses a fastening strap system, particularly of the hook-and-loop variety (with hooks on one side of the strap and loops on the other side), for selectively and independently binding and/or releasing a plurality of sets of essentially longitudinal objects, such as wires, from one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,454 B1 discloses a sign housing mounted to a swivally-mounted base and a pair of flexible and resilient, semi-circular parts are integrally formed with the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,793 discloses a pole clip needle cap holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,122 B1 discloses a catheter drainage bag holding assembly includes a clamp with an arcuate member having a pair of free ends. The arcuate member forms at least 60% of a complete circle. A threaded rod is threadably coupled to and extends through the arcuate member. The arcuate member is positionable on a post and the rod is abuttable against the post.
U.S. Pat. No. D391,636 S discloses a catheter pole attachment utilizing a nut and bolt anchoring system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,913,959 B2 discloses a suction nozzle holster.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,188 A discloses a bundling strap for enclosing an article such as a wire or group of wires comprising a strap of flexible material having integrally formed along one face thereof a row of ratchet-like teeth, an enclosure formed at one end of said strap and projecting in a direction transverse thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,901 A discloses a drain bag hanger which utilizes metal clamps and link chain.
U.S. Pat. No. US 20020096608 A1 discloses a holder with a base rotatably mounted to the IV stand. An arm is supported by the base and extends away from the base such that the arm holds the cords and the tubes extending from the medical apparatus.
The patent documents above disclose a myriad of attachment mechanisms to be used on an IV pole. However, due to the nature of their design having multiple parts and crevices, a large surface area is created that is not easily decontaminated for infection control purposes. In addition, many of the devices are made of materials in which regular disposal would not be economically efficient.
In addition to attachment mechanisms for IV poles, medical personnel commonly attach a multitude of various objects to different surfaces in a hospital room environment. One such surface is a bed rail of a hospital bed. As with prior art solutions for attachment mechanisms to be used on an IV pole, prior art solutions for attachment mechanisms to be used hospital bed rails encounter similar problems with respect to effective decontamination and economically efficient regular disposal.
Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has identified a number of deficiencies and problems with infection control with regards to the attachment mechanisms for hospital bed rails. Applicant has developed a solution to address these deficiencies and problems, and is embodied by the present invention, which is described in detail below.